Close Call
by DarkDreamer56
Summary: NS friendship, with a bit of Greg thrown in. Based on Spoilers for Committed.


Title: Close Call  
Author: DarkDreamer56  
Archive: If you want it, ask please!  
Rating: T  
Pairing: N/S friendship, with a bit of Greggo thrown in for good measure  
Disclaimer: If I owned them, then this split shift nonsense would be over already  
Spoilers: for the upcoming episode "Committed" (5x20)

A/N: I know I should be working on chapter four of _Unexpected Chances,_ or even finishing the challenge from Julie, but I've been toying with this idea since I first read the spoilers for "Committed," and for some reason I just had to sit down and finish this today. Let me know what you think, and I'm going to try to have either the next chapter of UC or the challenge posted once I get home from work tonight. Enjoy!

* * *

Nick sat down wearily at the table in the break room, clutching his only sustenance for going on twelve hours: a cup filled with the most recently brewed sludge from the lab's coffee pot. He wanted nothing more than to go home and pass out in bed, but he still had toxicology results pending, and nothing else to go on. Nick briefly contemplated hunting Greg down and asking the newest CSI for access to his secret stash, but on second thought, Nick was too tired to get up and try to find him. Plus, things had been so tense between swing and night shift lately, Nick wasn't sure he still qualified to share Greg's coffee. 

His case had started off stranger than most; when he and Warrick had arrived on the scene, they were met by a dead body in the middle of what appeared to be a crop circle. Nick remembered the last alien related case he'd had that year as he tried to force some more coffee into his system. That had been the last case that he had worked with Sara on; at least the last case they had shared together.

Nick could feel the first smile in about twelve hours tugging at his lips as he recalled working the case with Sara. He had teased her mercilessly for several days after they solved the case, planting wedding chapel brochures in her locker and purse, nick naming her 'the ball and chain,' and even asking her whether she preferred Stokes or Sidle-Stokes before a staff meeting. That particular incident earned him a scathing look from Grissom and nearly gave Greg a heart attack. Part of it was because Nick loved way her eyes widened at each comment and the color her cheeks turned when she blushed, but a bigger part than he usually admitted liked to entertain the idea that Brian from the Alien Chapel might have been right.

Though thinking about Sara was much more enjoyable than the frustration his case was providing, Nick realized that it was probably going to be awhile longer before Tox had anything on his vic. With nothing else to go on, and not wanting to max out on overtime so early in the month, Nick decided to go home, grab a shower, and catch some sleep and maybe a dream or two about Sara before he had to be back for his next shift.

He wasn't counting on running into Greg, literally, on the way to the locker room, but there was no way to avoid the former lab tech barreling down the hall.

"Where's the fire man?" Nick asked, rubbing his shoulder where it had slammed into the doorway of the DNA lab.

"No time," Greg gasped, pulling Nick behind him, "Sara…attacked…hospital…"

Nick didn't need to hear anymore, as he was now pulling Greg towards the locker room. "I'll drive, we have to get my keys…"

Shoving the door open, Nick saw someone sitting on the bench, back towards the door. It took him a second to realize that it was Sara, and once he had, he glanced between her and Greg. "What is going on? You said…Sara, what the hell happened?" She had turned towards them at the sound of Nick's voice, and both men gasped as they saw her face. There was a long gash running across her right temple, and her eye was swollen. Mottled bruises were already appearing and her cheeks and around her eyes.

Sara held out a hand to stop Nick and Greg from rushing over to her, while using the other hand to pull the neck of her black hoodie up around her throat. That still didn't stop Nick from noticing the white bandage peeking out from underneath. He sidestepped her hand and sat down next to her as Greg knelt on her other side and examined her face.

"I'm okay," she protested, arms crossed over her chest, and trying to muster a defiant look. It would have worked if Nick hadn't have been able to see the fear hiding behind her clouded eyes.

"This does not look okay!" Nick exclaimed, carefully pulling at the sweatshirt until he could see the length of the bandage. Blood had soaked through the gauze, so he could make out the path the sharp object had taken. He sucked in a breath as he realized how close it had traveled to a major artery. Greg's eyes met his, and Nick could see that he was thinking the same thing.

"It was just a…an incident at the psychiatric hospital. One of the patients followed me into a storage closet, and he got a little unruly…"

"Unruly?" Greg asked incredulously, "Sara, he sliced your throat! He could have…"

Sara pushed herself off the bench and walked over to her locker. Her eyes darted to the floor, refusing to meet either of their concerned gazes as she shook her head and leaned against the bay of lockers. "I'm fine, and really, thanks for the concern, but I just want to change and get back to work."

Greg looked about to protest, but Nick silenced him with a look. Years of working with

Sara on emotional cases, and being her friend, had taught Nick that there were certain ways to deal with her. Sometimes confrontation worked best, but this was definitely not one of those times.

"Okay. You can change, and we'll go get some coffee. We'll meet you in the breakroom."

Nick pushed Greg towards the door, Greg shooting daggers his way the entire time. They were barely in the hallway when Greg exploded. "What the hell are you doing Nick! She's not okay, and we just left her in there! She doesn't need coffee, she needs a friend."

Greg tried to go back into the locker room, but Nick grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back into the hallway.

"Hey," Nick hissed back, "I know what I'm doing, alright? Sara doesn't like being hovered over. And we're not leaving her in there. Just trust me, okay? Now go find Grissom, and find out what the hell really happened."

Greg looked Nick over warily. Things had been tense between the split shifts, but it stillwasn't common forNick and Gregto fight, especially at work. Nick knew how protective Greg had become over Sara the past few months. It was about as protective as Nick felt about her himself, and he respected that. Still, Nick had had more experience in dealing with an emotional Sara, and he was hoping to minimize the fallout from this particular incident. Greg must have realized he could trust Nick, because with a look that said _You better be right_, Greg ran off to Grissom's office.

Nick leaned up against the door of the locker room, getting a few strange looks from passersby, waiting for the right moment to go back in. Several minutes later, the opportunity presented itself when he heard faint sobs coming from within. He quickly entered the locker room, finding Sara seated on the bench, head in her hands and her body shaking with sobs. Nick sat down next to her, pulling her close, careful not to graze any of her wounds. He kissed the crown of her head and murmured, "You knew we weren't really going to leave."

This declaration only made her cry harder as she melted against Nick's side. Sobs wracked her body, and Nick could feel her tears soaking through his shirt. She seemed so small to him, trying to mold her body against his as he wrapped his arms around her as tightly as her slight frame would allow. Nick rubbed her back and held her until the sobs gradually subsided.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sara still trembling as Nick kissed the top of her head at random intervals. When Sara finally did speak, her voice was so low that Nick had to strain to hear.

"I saw the hatred in his eyes, Nick. He didn't just want to hurt me, or even kill me. If they hadn't gotten in when they did, he was going to…"

Sara trailed off as Nick closed his eyes and squared his jaw. Sara didn't have to finish her thought, Nick knew what would have happened, and he had never wanted to inflict more pain on a man ever in his life.

"Don't tell anyone, about this, please?" she whispered. Nick looked over at her, wanting to strangle that man with his bear hands for the fear that he had put into Sara's eyes; fear of being hurt mixed with the fear of being discovered. "If you tell Grissom, he'll make me go home."

Nick tucked a stray hair behind her ear and carefully wiped away a tear from her cheek. "I really think that you should get out of here Sara. You don't need to be working tonight."

A panicked look crossed her face as she tried to pull away. "Please Nick, I don't want to go home." She cast her eyes downward. "I don't want to be alone…every time I close my eyes it just keeps replaying over and over….I need to stay here. And I want to get him…he did this Nick, I know it."

Nick examined her face, oddly pleased to see some of her determination return. That bastard wasn't going to be able to keep her down for long. She was going to stay whether Nick wanted her to or not. He decided to compromise. "Think you could use some help?"

"Nick, your shift ended hours ago. You should go home…get some sleep. I heard you guys had a rough shift."

Nick couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer ridiculousness of that comment coming from Sara. Sara's eyes widened, but then Nick was pleasantly surprised when she rolled her eyes and let out a small giggle.

"You don't mind staying?" she asked quietly, a few minutes later.

"Well, I do have three conditions," Nick teased gently, trying to lighten the mood. "First, we are staying no longer than the time your shift officially ends. Second, you're coming home with me after shift. You can sleep, cry, play video games…I don't care what."

"And third?" Sara asked, leaning against him before sitting up and pushing herself up off the bench.

Nick nudged her gently in the side and guided her towards the door. "You have to get Greg to make some coffee."

FIN.

Let me know what you think in a review!


End file.
